Duel

""""Who are you?!""""

"Hello!" Melissa stood up with a smile and quickly walked over to shake their hands before they could put up their guard.

"My name is Melissa! Your names are?"

"Wait! What's going on George? Who is this woman?" Emma looked over at George with a questioning look.

"Her name is Melissa."

"I just said that!" Melissa angrily looked at the two. She lightly coughed and regained her composure with a bright smile.

"I was hiking into the Northern Mountain Range in search of the B-Rank dungeon by myself but I managed to stumble upon you guys. What a relief!"

"B-Rank dungeon? You're an adventurer as well?" Abe asked with some mild surprise.

"Yes! I'm actually a powerful [Ranger]." Melissa tried to puff out her chest to boast.

Emma attempted [Clairvoyance] on her to make sure like she always sub-consciously does.

To her surprise, she received a [Permission required from target to show stats] message. Most of the time it would either come back as [Error!] for adventurers above her rank or show the stats. The only way this appears is if the other party is a Summoned.

She instantly became wary of Melissa, unknown if she is telling the truth or not.

"Powerful? Is it okay to ask of your rank?" Bernice curiously wanted to know.

"Of course! My rank is A." She puffed her chest out again.

The four looked at her with surprise and some mild doubt, with Emma expressing the most doubt.

"Ok, Melissa. Do you need anything from us?" Emma felt uncomfortable around her and wanted her to leave. She sub-consciously asked this in a rude manner.

"You see, I didn't think it'd be this difficult traversing the mountains." Melissa did not seem to care about her attitude and cheerfully explained, "Seeing the size of your group, I was wondering if I could join your group until I arrive at the B-Rank dungeon."

"Er..."

The party members looked at each other.

Even Bernice seemed a little hesitant in accepting a new member to their group.

"Could we discuss this in private?" Emma asked Melissa.

"No problem. I understand your suspicions towards me. You do what's best." Melissa seemed to not care as if their decision did not matter. They did not notice this of course.

The party members watched as Melissa backed away. They went close to the campfire to discuss.

After all, this woman came out of nowhere and suddenly wants to join their group. A normal person would be a little suspicious.

"To be honest, she's highly suspicious. I don't want someone with unknown intentions in our group." Emma spoke up first and expressed her direct opinion.

"I... don't mind." Hester spoke in a mutter, looking at her and turning red. She was really attractive to him who has always been single. He was more influenced on her looks.

"Having a Rank A [Ranger] would be greatly beneficial to the combat power of our party, and it looks like she has all the supplies so we wouldn't have to worry about feeding an extra hand." Abe thought of the benefits and rationalized a reason for her to join.

"I'm fine with her joining. Plus, there are more boys than girls in our group at the moment. Having three girls and three boys will even out the playing field." Bernice expressed her justification in a weird manner.

Emma realized her opinion was in the minority and she instinctively bit her lower lip. She looked over at George for her last hope.

"Let's have George decide then."

"I'm fine with that."

"No problem."

"That seems fair."

The four party members had unconsciously moved George's status within the group to a place resembling what a leader would have. He has been guiding them and even saved them before. Without him, they would have wasted a lot of time and could have lost a member even with the map they have.

"What do you think George?"

"My opinion is similar to Abe's. Rank A adventurers are powerful, so having an additional one drastically reduces our chances of incidents happening especially when we encounter anomalies or the frost apes." George merely glanced at Emma and then Melissa before focusing on cooking again.

Abe, Bernice, and Hester looked at Emma whose face rapidly turned dark.

"Fine." Emma gritted her teeth and no longer voiced her opposition.

The party members walked over to Melissa who patiently waited.

"You... can join our group." Emma's face was a little dark but she forced a smile.

"Really? Thank you so much!" Melissa grabbed their hands and shook them furiously.

"You have no idea how much I am happy!"

"Really, I'm super happy! I don't know how I'd traverse the mountains by myself!"

Emma listened to her happy rant and loudly coughed.

"You can join our group, but I first want to test your combat potential in a duel!"

"Eh? You want a duel with me?" Melissa looked at her from head-to-toe and used [Clairvoyance].

<Name: [Emma Alston]>

<Race: [Human]>

<Titles: [A Mage's Determination]>

<Class: [Mage]>

<Level: [58]>

<Guild Rank: [A+]>

<Attributes: [Agility - 12] [Dexterity - 4] [Endurance - 10] [Intelligence - 60] [Strength - 4] [Toughness - 4] [Vitality - 12] [Willpower - 20 (40)]

<Magus Nodes: [58/108]>

<Magus Types: [Standard Magus - 53 (63)] [Agility Magus - 5]>

<Skills: [Fast Caster - Max] [Magus Manipulation - Max] [Multicasting - 91 (100)] [Long Range Casting - 67] [Fast Thinker - 84 (100)] [Mental Link - 65] [Sword Technique - 8] [Herbology - 3] [Botany - 2] [Hunting - 69] [Clairvoyance - 58]

<Current Buffs: [Title Boost]>

<Current Debuffs: [None]>

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Notes:

* Updates have been made to auxiliary chapters. Check them out if you are interested.

* Updates have been made to the Aeternum Empire government.

* Updates have been made to the Guild and Creature Ranking chapter. Check it out if you are interested. Also modified what [Clairvoyance] displays to a person.

* The magus stuff can be very confusing, so I highly recommend going to the 'Magical System' auxiliary chapter for an explanation. I should have implemented this sooner, but now I'm making the chapters necessary for the plot.